Grizzlies-Thunder Preview

By JEFF LATZKEPosted Apr 30 2011 5:39PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The new kids in town are trying to take over the Western Conference.

The Memphis Grizzlies already knocked out the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs and will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in a series that ensures one of the NBA's rising young teams will make it to the conference finals.

The Thunder and Grizzlies were the league's two youngest teams at the start of last season, then improved their win totals more than any other teams. That rapid ascent has carried both into the second round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Sunday in Oklahoma City.

"We're both bad teams that have risen up and become good teams," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said Saturday. " ... Our transformations started the same way, and they actually were ahead of us. We're here, and they're here."

But who would have ever believed it just two years ago?

The Thunder started out that season 3-29 and were on pace for the worst season in NBA history before a strong finish left them with 23 wins in their first season after relocating from Seattle to Oklahoma City. Memphis finished that year with 24 wins and started the next one 1-8 during the failed Allen Iverson experiment.

Both fired their coaches during the 2008-09 season and hired new ones who paved the way to the postseason.

Scott Brooks led Oklahoma City to a 27-win improvement last season - from 23 to 50 - and was named coach of the year after getting the Thunder into the playoffs.

Hollins produced a 16-win improvement that was the second-best. Then came this year's breakthrough, with the first playoff win - and series win - in franchise history for the Grizzlies, who have been in Memphis for 10 years after moving from Vancouver.

"I think both teams really have done a good job of just playing hard and learning the game by playing with a lot of effort," Brooks said. "You can make up for your mistakes and you will improve along the way much quicker if you're playing with a lot of effort. Memphis does play hard, and I really believe that we play as hard.

"It's kind of like us in a way that they didn't give up a couple years ago when they didn't have a good record either. Both teams just kept punching the clock and getting better every day."

Each team is built around a superstar who can take over a game, and who just proved it in the first round.

NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant scored 14 of his 41 points in the final 4 minutes of Game 5 to lead Oklahoma City back from a nine-point deficit and finish off Denver. Zach Randolph scored 17 of his 31 in the fourth quarter of the clinching Game 6 against San Antonio.

The Grizzlies got the better of the Thunder in the regular season, winning the series 3-1 as Randolph averaged 26.5 points and 13 rebounds.

Durant, the league's leading scoring the past two seasons, needed a 40-point performance to get Oklahoma City its only win. Durant still got his numbers against the Grizzlies, but had to work for it while ace defender Tony Allen was busting through screens to harass him.

"I just take pride in my defense," said Allen, whose 18.8-point average against Oklahoma City was his best against any team this season. "I don't like getting scored on. Hopefully, all my teammates can help me.

"I'm going to need help with this guy."

Allen will have reinforcements with Memphis' addition of another top perimeter defender, Shane Battier, at the trade deadline. And similarly, the Thunder have something new to throw at Randolph: deadline pickup Kendrick Perkins, Allen's teammate on Boston's 2008 championship team with the same tough-as-nails demeanor.

Perkins didn't play in any of the four regular-season meetings, but should allow Serge Ibaka - the NBA's top shot blocker - to slide over and defend Randolph.

"Memphis is one of the biggest teams in basketball. They have size and strength and toughness, and they're the best scoring team in the paint," Brooks said. "So, it's certainly going to help."

The two may be labeled the NBA's teams of the future, but there's no reason they can't be successful in the present. Ahead in the Western Conference finals would be a matchup against one of two veteran-laden teams - the Dallas Mavericks or the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

"We don't feel like we're just happy to be here or don't belong," said the Thunder's Nick Collison, the only player other than Durant who's left from the franchise's days in Seattle.

"We feel like we belong on the court with anybody."

The postseason is the time to prove it.

"Two young, athletic teams striving for greatness, striving to move the organization to another level, to a top level," Memphis guard O.J. Mayo said. "They got two great players in Durant and (Russell) Westbrook. We got a great core team right here and we're just looking forward to putting together a great series."

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Z-Bo, Gasol power Grizzlies past Thunder, 114-101

By JEFF LATZKEPosted May 01 2011 5:14PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies powered their way to another playoff upset - not that he considers it one.

Randolph had a playoff career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Grizzlies outmatched the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.

"We believe," Randolph said. "We definitely believe. Our confidence is up high. I tell the guys we can compete and play with anybody."

Just as they did in a first-round upset of top-seeded San Antonio, Randolph and Gasol provided enough punch to give eighth-seeded Memphis a road victory in Game 1.

Randolph and Gasol each scored 20 points in the same regular-season game only once this season, but did it in Game 1 against the Spurs and again to negate the Thunder's home-court advantage right from the start.

"I think we always try to do that. The thing is that it's not always possible," Gasol said. "We always try to come out and execute and play the right way. It's not always possible. Teams are going to adjust, and they're going to do something different.

"We've got to keep being hungry, keep being unselfish offensively and defensively and keep playing the right way."

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn't overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis.

Randolph had two games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season against the Thunder, as Memphis won the series 3-1. And he was at it again from the tip, scoring the Grizzlies' first seven points to provide them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"You can't stop him. You've got to make them shoot tough shots like he's been doing, but if he's making them, he's tough to stop," Durant said.

"He's an animal."

Durant went on to say that he considers Randolph, a 10th-year veteran who's bounced around the league with no postseason success until this year, to be "the best power forward in the league."

"I've got to agree with that. Thanks, KD," Randolph said with a smile. "I appreciate that."

Before this year, Randolph hadn't made the playoffs since his second year in the league with Portland in 2003 and - like the Grizzlies - had never won a postseason series before.

All that is changing now for Randolph, an All-Star choice last season who was left out of the showcase this year.

"I've felt like I don't get a lot of respect I deserve. It's nothing personal or nothing," Randolph said. "I just try to come out and be the same player, consistent during the regular season and during playoffs. I just try to be this way all the time, play my way all the time, and not be up and down.

"The good players be consistent and stay consistent, not just playoffs but during the regular season, also."

The only player in the league to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds each of the last three seasons, Randolph teams with Gasol to make the Grizzlies the NBA's most productive team in the paint with a 51.5-point average.

The Grizzlies racked up 52 against the Thunder, who had bolstered their interior defense with their trade deadline pickup of Kendrick Perkins from Boston.

That move allowed Serge Ibaka - the league's top shot blocker - to move from center to power forward and give Oklahoma City two top defenders inside.

"They're not an easy matchup," Gasol said. "They're big and strong, kind of how we are. But we've got different ways to play. We don't just throw the ball in there and try to bang, bang."

Randolph started out with short jumpers to give Memphis the lead for good in the opening 2 minutes, then he followed a 17-5 run fueled by the bench with the Grizzlies' lone first-half 3-pointer to make it answer Durant's two-handed alley-oop and make it 54-38 with 2:26 left before halftime.

The Thunder used a 20-7 charge that spanned intermission to get back within 61-58 before Randolph steadied the Grizzlies again. He hit two free throws, a putback, a tip-in and then a jumper that caromed high off the rim before going in during a key stretch to keep Oklahoma City at bay.

"The one thing that I admire in his game is he's relentless. He's always playing the game. You just know that the loves the game," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We have to do a better job of controlling him and making him miss some shots.

"It's not going to be easy, and we know that going into it, and we knew that going into this game. He scores, and he scores in bunches, and we have to do a better job with that."

Then, Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer from the right wing when Oklahoma City failed to get back in transition, and Gasol added three straight jumpers - the last one coming at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 86-71.

The advantage reached 91-74 when Battier followed O.J. Mayo's 3-pointer with a layup with 10:22 left.

Brooks called timeout and got Durant back in the game, and the NBA's scoring champion immediately hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding. He added a putback on Westbrook's miss and Ibaka had a two-handed slam as Oklahoma City rallied with nine straight points to get within 93-86 after Westbrook's driving jumper with 7:09 remaining.

Mike Conley stopped the comeback with a floater in the lane, and Memphis scored five straight points to bump the lead up to 100-88 after Randolph's jumper with 4:26 left.

The Grizzlies made 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to close out another win for the underdogs - if you can even call them that anymore.

"We don't call ourselves anything. We believe we can compete against anybody in this league, and that's how we really think, because we've done it all season," Gasol said.

"It's no surprise for us that we can compete and play good against good teams."

NOTES: The series wasn't set until Memphis beat San Antonio on Friday night, giving the teams a little over 36 hours to get ready for Game 1. "Neither team has had a lot of time for preparation. As we go along, the preparation will get better and the game plan will get better because after the first two games, we don't play again until Saturday," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. ... Durant and Westbrook averaged 56.2 points in the first round against Denver, with Durant leading the NBA with 32.4 - 4.8 pts ahead of second place Derrick Rose of Chicago. ... Ibaka added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City.

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Grizzlies-Thunder notebook

By Randy Renner, for NBA.comPosted Sunday May 1, 2011 4:55PM

THE FACTS: The eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies stole home-court advantage from the Oklahoma City Thunder with a surprising 114-101 win inside Oklahoma City Arena. The Grizzlies forced Oklahoma City into turning the ball over 18 times, leading to 23 Griz points. Despite the acquisition of center Kendrick Perkins and the movement of Serge Ibaka to his natural power forward position, the Thunder had no answer for Memphis power forward Zach Randolph (34 points) and center Marc Gasol (20 points). The 34 points for Randolph breaks the Memphis franchise record for playoff points (31), which he set Friday night against San Antonio.

Randolph also pulled down 10 rebounds and stole the ball three times. His teammate down low, Gasol, grabbed 13 rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked three shots. It proved to be a combination the Thunder couldn't stop.

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook added 29 but it took him 23 shots to get there. Westbrook started the game 5-for-6 and finished 4-for-17. He also had seven turnovers.

QUOTABLE: "You can't stop him (Randolph). We've got to make him shoot tough shots but even when he missed he'd be there to get his own rebound and the tip-in. He's an animal. I think he's the best power forward in the league."--Thunder two-time All Star Durant on the play of Randolph

QUOTABLE II: "Any time you win on the road it's a steal so yeah we came in here and stole one. I'm just happy to come here and play the way we did coming off a tough series (with San Antonio) and coming here with little to no preparation. I'm just excited, tired, but excited."--Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins

THE STAT: Randolph and Gasol combined for 44 points, 23 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks. They were 21-for-33 (63.6%) shooting. Memphis also led in almost every hustle stat forcing 18 turnovers, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds and scoring 22 second chance points.

TURNING POINT: The aggressive Memphis defense put hands in the face of Thunder shooters and stuffed the lane forcing either turnovers or missed shots. Westbrook missed six layups. The Thunder could never regain their rhythm from falling behind early.

QUOTABLE III: "We didn't have any energy, they played harder than us, give those guys credit. We've gotta come out with more fight next game."--Durant

QUOTABLE IV: "I thought we were a step slow in a lot of areas and that's disappointing."--Brooks

HOT: In the first seven minutes of the game OKC's Westbrook had eight points on 4-for-5 shooting. ... He finished the half with 18 points on 6-for-12...In the first quarter, Randolph had nine points on 4-for-4 shooting. ... Gasol had seven points on 3-for-3 shooting. ... Randolph finished with 34 points on 12-for-22 and Gasol ended with 20 points on 9-for-11.

NOT: In the first quarter Memphis' Tony Allen had two points on 1-for-5 shooting...In the second quarter, Randolph scored five points on 2-for-6 shooting.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Randolph ended with a great stat line, 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting, 10 rebounds, four offensive boards, 9-for-9 at the free throw line, three steals, two assists and just one turnover.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Another "blue-out" inside Oklahoma City Arena as 18,203 Thunder Blue tee-shirts were laid out on all the seats. NBA "Superfan" James Goldstein sat court side. He was one of the few in the crowd not wearing a blue tee-shirt, he chose to stay in his trademark leather jacket.

GOOD MOVE: Off the opening tip, Thunder point guard Westbrook pokes the ball away from Memphis guard Allen, who races down court and dishes off to Ibaka, who hits the jumper.

GOOD MOVE II: Late in the first quarter, Thunder forward Durant steps in front of Grizzlies forward Shane Battier and steals the ball. He then races up the floor, drives into the lane past Gasol and slams it home.

GOOD MOVE III: In the second quarter Memphis forward Battier reaches in to steal the ball from Thunder guard James Harden as he drove the lane. Battier gets it out to rookie Greivis Vasquez who drives all the way into the lane and lays it in.

GOOD MOVE IV: Randolph drives into the lane in the third quarter, puts up a floater that bounces off the front of the rim, but Randolph is there to grab his own rebound and get the putback.

BAD MOVE: Westbrook driving and then leaping up for the lay-in or dunk, instead tried to pass off to Ibaka and the ball goes right into the hands of Memphis forward Darrell Arthur, leading to a basket at the other end.

ROOKIE WATCH: Memphis rookie guard Vasquez played 9:16 scoring four points on 2-for-3 shooting. He also dished three assists.

NOTABLE: Memphis is the first No. 8 seed, since playoff series went to seven games, to beat a No. 1 seed then come back and win the first game of the next series.

UP NEXT: Game Two in the Thunder-Grizzlies second round series is set for Tuesday night at 9:30 P.M. ET at Oklahoma City Arena.